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I was however wondering if so many layers haven't been impeding movement too much.
Guess they haven't though, if they were worn. |
A lot depends upon the slipperiness of the fabrics and textures. It may be that the various layers were worn in such a way that the slicker textures actually allowed for a fair degree of movement. A lot depended upon the order of the layering. If you'll look up the clothing that Mallory and Irvine wore on their ill-fated summit attempt, you'll see what I'm talking about. Graham Hoyland's book has a very illuminating section on this. It turns out that because of the order in which Mallory layered the various layers of gaberdine, silks, etc., he actually had far better mobility than modern climbers do in their obviously more modern gear. It took far less energy to move in those old clothes than it takes modern climbers. Every "rough" texture was faced by a slick one, so nothing "caught" on the rough texture. You wouldn't expect to move well in two layers of wool, for example, as the wool would exact an energy penalty to move smoothly as the two rough layers rubbed against each other. I would expect that medieval gear was similar in layering concept, in addition to the obvious protective benefits that layering brought. After all, those guys had to move fast and unemcumbered.
Just an idea. Do we know the order of the average chain mail wearing medieval knight's kit? It may be interesting to look at that and see if my idea is correct or not.
Bob